Couple who scuffled with firefighters, cops plead, are sentenced
Two residents of southern Chester County who got into a heated encounter with firefighters and state police after their house caught fire in October were sentenced Tuesday after they pleaded guilty in county court to reduced charges.
The couple, Bruce Bredes and Grace Mason of Landenberg, appeared before Judge Analisa Sondergaard and entered pleads to separate counts of resisting arrest, a second-degree misdemeanor. They were each sentenced to one year of court-supervised probation and ordered to complete 40 hours of community service.
As part of a plea agreement negotiated between Deputy District Attorney Kate Wright and the defense attorney representing both Bredes and Mason, Melissa McCafferty of West Chester, multiple charges of felony aggravated assault on a first responder were withdrawn.
Wright told Sondergaard that the resolution of the case had been discussed with state Trooper Anthony Stolzfus, the arresting officer, and he agreed with it.
In accepting the plea and imposing the sentence, Sondergaard asked each of the defendants whether they wanted to say anything on their own behalf. Both declined, with Bredes saying simply, “I’d better not.”
According to the facts as laid out by Wright and in court documents, at 1:35 a.m. on Oct. 22, emergency units from the West Grove Fire Company were dispatched to Thompson Circle in Franklin in response to an active house fire.
Arriving firefighters found an attached garage fully involved with flames extending to the home. Given the severity of the situation, a tanker task force was requested to provide additional firefighting resources.
Shortly after arrival, however, the fire chief on the scene requested state police respond due to what he described as irate homeowners. When dispatchers asked for additional details, the chief reportedly said that the homeowners were attacking his firefighters.
Wright told Sondergaard that the couple had “issues with the response” time of the firefighters.
Troopers arrived at the scene and attempted to detain the individuals involved in the altercation and to keep them at a safe distance from the burning structure. During the process, however, Bredes, 65, and Mason, 39, became upset with the police and struggled with them. Physical restraint was necessary to subdue the individuals, according to police.
In the course of this altercation, two troopers suffered minor injuries as they grappled to bring the situation under control.
The two were arrested and charged, but later released on bail pending their trial.